Ke$ha Says “You Must Be Upgraded” In New Track

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Saturday was Record Store Day 2012, the day loads of artists release exclusives, largely on vinyl, in limited numbers to record stores across the country. This year saw high profile releases from Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay — and a special collaboration between the Flaming Lips and Ke$ha.

The Flaming Lips are perhaps best known to most audiences as the band whose singer performs inside an inflatable bubble while crowd surfing. They are a psych-rock band from Oklahoma whose music is a favorite in drug culture and indie rock.

To put it mildly, their collaboration with Ke$ha is unexpected. Except, perhaps, by Ke$ha. Wayne Coyne, the Flaming Lips frontman, told Pitchfork that she’s a fan of the band. “When she played here in Oklahoma over the summer, she Tweeted something like, ‘If anybody knows the Flaming Lips tell them to come up.'”

Coyne recounts that Ke$ha texted him on his birthday. “She called me that night, and three days later we were recording at a studio in her house in Nashville,” he said. “I like her so much because she’s just willing to be a freak. I’m around a lot of rock star people, and there’s just so much f***ing pandering and drama. She’s not like that. It’s such a great relief to be around people that are so energetic, creative, funny, and into life.”

The drama-free track, now available to stream on YouTube, is about 2012 and doomsday. Coyne confirms that the pop singer was not, however, on drugs while they recorded. “The way she is, it’s as though she’s on acid already,” Coyne said. “I thought, ‘F***, how crazy is that going to be [if she takes acid]?'”

Their track with Ke$ha is just one on a collection called The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, which also includes Erykah Badu, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Biz Markie, Yoko Ono, and many more.